Update: Added instructions on how to reclaim an inactive name

It's a cold wintery night, snow's falling, your hot chocolate is keeping you warm.
"Let's start a new character" said your brain, so you log onto Project Duck and pick out the next class that you know is going to be OP (cleric for a saint, obviously)
Now the hard part - a name. You know exactly what you want - let's name him "Weak" because he's actually OP. HAH.
Your disappointment can be felt in the server room. Vahr clutches his heart, knowing he's about to get a DM asking to see if this name is active or not, only to say "sorry, we don't do that here"
You got rejected. Some dumpster took your totally original name.
Vahr can fix this, right? Right?
"They haven't logged in since April, but sorry, we don't do that here"
Deflated, you spend 2 more days thinking up some fantasy MMORPG name that ends up sounding like you're a weeb, and so resigned to that you are.

We've all been there - some name you want is taken and even worse it's by someone who quit or is on a squatter account.

Well, that ends soon. We're introducing a new policy that will free up inactive character names for reuse! Yes, one of you lucky people get to claim the name "sdasafadf4"

The Policy

  • This policy will take effect no earlier than Feb 18, 2020 (1 month from this post's publishing)
  • Characters that have not logged in for 6 months will have their name available for reclaimation
  • The staff (and the system, on the staff's behalf) makes the final decision on whether or not a name is reclaimable (certain names for historical (positive or negative) or other reasons will not be reclaimable)

How do I know if my character name is in danger?

  • Log onto the website
  • Go to Profile
  • There will be a big yellow banner at the top of your character list if any of your characters are at risk soon or are currently able to be reclaimed
BIG YELLOW
Individual characters have their own banners. If a character is currently reclaimable, this will be yellow

The Process

  • Log into the website
  • Go to Profile
  • Click on the character that you want to claim a name on
  • Click on "Claim an Inactive Name"
If you don't see this button, a red box will tell you why
  • Read the popup carefully and enter your desired name (with the capitalization you want)
  • Click "Check Availability"
Wow such policy
  • If the name is available, the button will change to "Submit Request". Press the button to submit your request for review. If it is not available, a message will tell you why, and you will need to try a different name
  • After successfully submitting your name, you will be returned to your character info page
If you have second thoughts, you can cancel your request
  • We will review your request and approve or reject it. If approved, your character will have the name you entered. If rejected, you will see the status as "REJECTED" and you will be able to submit a new request.

Misc

The goal of this system is to alleviate an age-old online game problem with globally unique names. We feel that 6-8 months (especially for a server our age) is a reasonable amount of time to consider "inactive." If you're on an extended break for some reason or are just waiting it out until we have more content, that's fine - just log in to the game and log into all the characters whose names you want to keep (or contact us directly if you're unable to).

Additionally, we will be sending out notices to the best of our ability to the registered email address to those accounts who will be considered inactive when the policy takes effect.

Finally, we'll be rolling out a website change soon to your personal (private) account page that will highlight characters that are currently considered reclaimable (e.g. in red) or will be reclaimable next month (e.g. in yellow) so that you can easily see which of your character names are at risk.

Please let us know of any comments or concerns you have about this new policy - we can always make changes to better accomodate y'all.